2 NC House Members Resign Before Start of Session

Raleigh, NC -- Two North Carolina state House members are resigning just before the start of the new session.

One is heading to the state Senate, and the other says he's going to Gov.-elect Pat McCrory's administration.

The House clerk's office received resignation letters Friday from Republican Rep. Mitch Gillespie of Marion and Democratic Rep. Angela Bryant of Rocky Mount.

Bryant will join the Senate to succeed the late Ed Jones, who died last month. Democratic leaders in Jones' five-county Senate district chose her to replace Jones. Bryant had served in the House since 2007.

Gillespie's resignation is effective Sunday. He said recently he would become an assistant secretary in the Department of Environment and Natural Resources. Gillespie has been a top budget-writer recently and shepherded legislation in 2012 that authorized fracking.